Lesson #8 - Paper Plate Fish Craft

The final lesson was taught by Beau and Heather. Their lesson mainly dealt with geometric shapes and creating patterns. We spent a great deal of time practicing coming up with our own patterns. After all the supplies were handed out, we then chose three different geometric shapes to use on our fish. Each shape needs to be a different color. Once all of the squares are filled with the pattern of your choosing, students can then color the remaining parts of the fish. Once the coloring is complete, have students use scissors to cut out a mouth for their fish. Use the cut out to act as a fin, and paste it on the fish (towards middle). Finally, using a piece of another paper plate, color the tail and paste it on the fish. Once everything is glued and colored on your fish, add one googly eye.
An extension activity for this lesson could be for a math class. Once students finished their projects, they could pair up with another student and discuss the patterns they created. Then, they could create a new pattern with the shapes they each used (six total). Once students are finished creating their group patterns, have them discuss the shapes they used and why they created the pattern they did. This would be done when students are learning about the different types of shapes and repetition.

Lesson #7 - 2D Design Paper Quilts

The 7th lesson was done by Amber and Reggie. The objective for this lesson was to create a quilt like pattern using sheets of scrapbook paper. First, students need to pick out eight different sheets of construction paper with any design of their choosing. Next, have students choose four sheets to cut out a square block. Then, have students use the remaining four sheets of paper to cut out a circle shape. Students then need to apply glue to the circle cut outs and paste them on the squares. Once everything is pasted, cut the four square blocks into fourths. In all students should have 16 small squares. Once all of the pieces are assembled, students can arrange the squares in any pattern of their choosing, to resemble a quilt.

For my quilt, I chose colors and designs that I like, such as the color blue and flower patterns. As you can see from my picture above, I decided to keep my family square assembled, so everyone could read the word "family". The remaining squares I randomly placed around the outside edge. Once all the pieces were glued down, we were to create designs on the border. I decided to continue on with the lesson and do a line/dot pattern around the edge. I finally added my name on the bottom of my project.

An extension activity for this lesson could be for a language arts After students created their "quilt" have them write a paper on what their quilt means to them. Students could describe the reasons for the colors and designs they chose to use. They could also talk about if they have a quilt of their own, and the story behind it. The students could also discuss their reasons for the patterns they chose to create. Students could then recite this to their class as a presentation or even a speech.

Lesson #6 - Clay Pinch Pots

The sixth lesson was taught by Danielle and Lisa. They decided to teach a 3rd grade lesson about clay pinch pots. This was a really neat lesson and unlike anything we've done in the past. First, we each were given a big clump of clay. Before we started sculpting, we had to knead the clay and make sure all of the air pockets were out. Once the clay was ready, we were taught a process on how to pinch it into a bowl shape. We were able to make any type of bowl we wished. After we shaped our bowl, we used water to get the wrinkles and finger prints off of the clay. This made it look nice and smooth. Next, we were able to use any color to paint our bowls with. I decided to mix blue and white to create a sky blue color. Once the paint was dried, we were able to paint symbols on our bowl that represented us. I decided to paint a sun, heart, and stick figures. The sun represents my love for the outdoors and that I'm a happy person. The heart represents my love for my family and friends, as well as my future of becoming a teacher. The stick figures represent each person in my family.
An extension activity for this lesson could be for a history class. Students could research different types of clay work used throughout history, such as Native American art. Students could then choose a certain technique and make their own creation. Afterwards, students could present their pots and describe the symbols they used, as well as the technique they were trying to replicate.

Lesson #5 - Name Painting & Oil Pastels

The fifth lesson was done by Marissa and Jordi. This was a lesson based off of artist Jasper John and dealt with patterns and repetition. This was a lesson for 3rd graders. First, they modeled how to fold a 12" X 18" of construction paper to form a grid of 12 squares. After making our grid, we chose another sheet of construction to act as a border. Then, we took six squares of a certain color of construction paper and pasted them on our grid, to make a checkerboard effect. Once the paper was glued and dried, we were to create a pattern using the letters of our name. It could either be your first name, your whole name or even a nick name. I chose to do my first name and used different colored oil pastels for each letter. In some of my letters I made special designs as well. After we finished with the oil pastels, we used water colors to paint over top of our designs. We could create any types of patterns we wanted, based on colors and designs.

An extension activity for this lesson could be for a language arts class. Students could write a paper about their name and a special story on why they were named that. They could also choose to write about their nickname if that's what they decided to do in their project.

Lesson #4 - Springtime Printmaking (my lesson)

For my lesson with Brittany, we had the topic of printmaking. There were many different options we could have done to teach this lesson, but we decided a fun one would be to stamp with everyday objects. We decided to have the students draw a springtime picture, such as butterflies, caterpillars, birds and etc. After they had their drawing completed, they were to use a minimum of three materials to make a print with. Some of the materials we provided were cotton balls, golf balls, sponges, q-tips, toy cars and plastic eating utensils. Students then dipped the objects in paint, to create a "print" on their drawing. One big thing we stressed during this lesson was to make sure they applied the proper amount of paint. If students used too much paint on their object, they wouldn't be able to see the texture it left. Students had the opportunity to create any special designs they desired and also could mix and match whatever colors. Once the students finished printing on their drawing, they were to cut it out once dried. Students also had to write down the materials they used to make the prints on their rubrics.

For our bulletin board, we decided to create a spring scene, because we had a wide variety of projects to display. We titled our bulletin board, "Spring Is Here", because we showed a short music video to our students at the beginning of the lesson about all the wonderful things we see during the springtime months.

An extension activity for this lesson could be discussing the certain seasons and create a drawing of their favorite seasonal object. Students could then write a short description of their project as to why that is their favorite and a certain memory they have. This could be for a language arts class.

Lesson #3 - Crayon Melting

The third lesson was done by Teresa and Morgan. Their lesson was titled "We're Melting into Spring!" and was for a 2nd grade classroom. The first part of the lesson was to file down crayons into a folded sheet of wax paper. We could use as many different colors as we wished, but we had to make sure we covered up a large portion of the wax paper. After our crayon shavings were completed, we then took it to the back counter for our teachers to melt it with an iron. You folded down the wax paper so there was a sheet on the bottom and on the top of the shavings. After ironing, you need to make sure it is cooled and dry, because it will be hot. The next step is to use a stencil and trace it on our wax paper. I chose to do a butterfly, but there were other options as well. After the tracing is completed, you can then cut out the shape and decorate it as you wish.

An extension activity for this project could be a science lesson and discussion certain types of animals. Students could choose one animal from each type of environment to draw, such as: fish, birds, butterflies, rabbits and etc. You could then discuss the differences between these animals and where they live.

Lesson #2 - 3D Design

The second lesson about 3D design was done by Amanda and Meghan. It was a 3rd grade lesson on making yarn balloon eggs. This was a very cool lesson that any student would enjoy doing. First, blow up a small balloon a certain size. After blowing up the balloon, we used different colored yarns to create our "egg". We first mixed together a paste like substance of glue and water. After that, we dipped our pieces of string in the paste and wrapped it around the balloon. We continued this process until we were pleased with our work. After placing the yarn around the balloon, you have to wait for it to dry and then you can pop the balloon. 

An extension activity could be for a math class and learning about circumference and distance. I think for this particular lesson a math lesson would make the most sense. You could also incorporate talking about other types of shapes as well.